Complexity

Building resilience of society to natural disasters

There has been an explosion of resilience-based methods and tools in the literature and practice to address community resilience, but the development of comprehensive taxonomy and quantification tools to value chains is still lacking. Moreover, understanding the barriers to the adoption of resilience thinking through project life cycle is of crucial importance. Thsi is the aim of teh project "Building resilience of society to natural disasters: improved methodologies and solutions for Italy and USA". The ultimate result is a resilience based approach that quickly and efficiently improves cognitive decision making and trust with institutional players who must address a wide scope of adverse events. Both PIs are part of significant national and international projects, including chairing the 2019 Fifth World Congress on Risk, in Cape Town, and will be able to use their projects to build significant new collaboration of the two countries.

Researcher: Andrea Critto
Duration: 18/04/2019 - 31/12/2022

Nano-region: innovation through nanotechnologies

Nano-Region ("Una rete aperta per l'innovazione attraverso le nanotecnologie") aims at developing a network of research centres and parks with a nano-technological vocation focused on promoting technology transfer. The network, aimed at businesses, will offer access to enabling technologies and contribute to creating a new culture of innovation, through a programme of targeted open events, a consultancy service, and feasibility studies, responding to the needs expressed by individual businesses and stimulating the creation of new products, markets and businesses.

Website
Researcher: Alvise Benedetti
Duration: 01/02/2019 - 31/03/2022

MEDREGION - Marine strategy framework

MEDREGION - Support Mediterranean member states towards implementation of the marine strategy framework directive new GES decision and programmes of measures and contribute to regional/subregional cooperation

The project aims to provide the necessary support to the CIS for the coordinated implementation of the New GES Decision and to provide a useful platform for the necessary Regional and Sub-regional cooperation, in order to support the further development of the Programmes of Measures. It is precisely under this strategic perspective that the involvement of the UNEP/MAP system (UNEP/MAP member of the Advisory Board, INFO/RAC, RAC/SPA, PLAN BLUE partners) plays an essential role, taking into account the regional and cross-border aspects that involve both the EU context and the third Countries.

Website
Researcher: Antonio Marcomini
Duration: 01/02/2019 - 31/01/2021

AI4EU - A European AI On Demand Platform and Ecosystem

Artificial Intelligence is a disruptive technology of our times with expected impacts rivalling those of electricity or printing. Resources for innovation are currently dominated by giant tech companies in North America and China. To ensure European independence and leadership, we must invest wisely by bundling, connecting and opening our AI resources. The AI4EU project will efficiently build a comprehensive European AI-on-demand platform to lower barriers to innovation, to boost technology transfer and catalyse the growth of start-ups and SMEs in all sectors through Open calls and other actions. The platform will act as a broker, developer and one-stop shop providing and showcasing services, expertise, algorithms, software frameworks, development tools, components, modules, data, computing resources, prototyping functions and access to funding. Training will enable different user communities (engineers, civic leaders, etc.) to obtain skills and certifications.
It will mobilize the whole European AI ecosystem and already unites 80 partners in 21 countries including researchers, innovators and related talents. Eight industry-driven AI pilots will demonstrate the value of the platform as an innovation tool. In order to enhance the platform, research on five key interconnected AI scientific areas will be carried out using platform technologies and results will be implemented. The AI4EU Ethical Observatory will be established to ensure the respect of human centred AI values and European regulations. Sustainability will be ensured via the creation of the AI4EU Foundation. 

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Marcello Pelillo
Duration: 01/01/2019 - 31/12/2021
Funding: Horizon 2020 Industrial Leadership: Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

QUEST - QUality and Effectiveness in Science and Technology communication

Science Communication (SciCom) plays a key role in addressing today’s societal challenges. To be effective, it must be conceived as multi-directional communication, involving scientists, policy-makers, journalists, other communications actors and citizens. On one side, scientists produce research results but are not always equipped to communicate efficiently to the public and to policy-makers. On the other, journalists and other communications actors act as the interface between science, citizens and other audiences, although they may face challenges in fully comprehending the scientific message. Citizens will have a varied perception of the information received but limited knowledge and tools impeding a qualitative assessment. The variety of means of communication existing today makes communications faster and easier, but that increases the complexity of these interactions and the challenge to communicate “sound” science. We also need to consider that much of today SciCom passes through the digital sphere, as the advent of digitalization has changed the way in which information flows and opinions are shaped, also regarding science. Social media are one of the key representatives of these modern means of communication, deserving a special focus.
QUEST aims at facing this challenge with a multi-step approach that will: (1) understand the dynamics of today SciCom (2) design tools to evaluate SciCom quality (3) experiment best practices and proposing innovative ways for SciCom (4) promote SciCom training (5) build an engaging SciCom community. The focus will be on (a) journalism (b) Social media (c) Museums, recognized as having the highest impact in this context. Climate change, vaccines and Artificial Intelligence are used as case studies.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researchers: Fabiana Zollo, Enrico Costa
Duration: 01/01/2019 - 31/01/2021
Funding: Horizon 2020

RiskGONE: Risk Governance of Nanotechnology

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are covered by REACH/CLP regulations; the general opinion is that the risk assessment (RA) approach routinely used for conventional chemicals is also applicable to ENMs. However, as acknowledged by OECD and ECHA, the OECD and ISO Test Guidelines (TGs) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) need to be verified and adapted to be applicable to ENMs. The project RiskGONE will support the standardization and validation process for ENM by evaluating, optimizing and pre-validating SOPs and TGs and integrating them into a framework for risk governance (RG) of ENMs.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Antonio Marcomini
Duration: 01/01/2019 - 31/12/2022
Funding: Horizon 2020 Industrial Leadership - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced materials

Innovative packaging and display tools for cultural heritage: APACHE

Most cultural heritage objects housed by museums are often stored under unsuitable climate conditions. The project APACHE will develop a cutting edge technology to control and prevent the degradation of such patrimony. It will take advantage of advanced sensing and absorbing materials to control the artifacts’ environment, modeling of artifacts’ degradation and remote control of the works of art stressors to reduce to the lowest possible level the costs actually required by conventional technology for art conservation. On the other hand, new generation of active and intelligent display cases, crates, and storage boxes, will be implemented. Wireless sensing devices will be employed, as well as multiscale models integrated in an open simulation environment will be used to predict the degradation of artifacts.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Antonio Marcomini
Duration: 01/01/2019 - 30/06/2022
Funding: Horizon 2020 Industrial Leadership - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced materials

GAIN - Green Aquaculture Intensification in Europe

Eco-intensification of European aquaculture is a transdisciplinary challenge that requires the integration of scientific and technical innovations, new policies and economic instruments, as well as the mitigation of social constraints. Successful eco-intensification of aquaculture will provide more and better aquatic products, more jobs, and improve trade balance by reducing imports. GAIN, besides looking at innovative ways of integrating cultured species, will seek integration with other sectors, in order to promote the implementation of the principles of circular economy in Aquaculture.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Roberto Pastres
Duration: 01/05/2018 - 31/10/2021
Funding: Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

EeDaPP - Energy efficiency Data Protocol and Portal

Despite some progress has been made in green finance, only a fraction of bank lending and funding (securities) is explicitly classified as green. There is a huge and urgent need of a standardised approach to “green due diligence”. The EeDaPP project intends to deliver large-scale, granular technical and financial data related to energy efficient mortgages by way of a standardised data protocol to be accessed through a common, centralised portal. The EeDaPP project will boost the green securities market in terms of size, liquidity and efficiency by providing for the traceability of the performance of energy efficient assets, allowing for the identification of such assets for the purposes of energy efficient covered bond/bond issuance and potentially other derivatives, and by significantly boosting investor confidence in such securities.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Monica Billio
Duration: 01/03/2018 - 29/02/2020
Funding: Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges - Secure, clean and efficient energy